Unpacking Europe: UK defence policy and role in NATO in the Burnham government

As Pedro Serrano prepares to leave his post as EU ambassador to the UK, Ian Bond deputy director of the Centre for European Reform speaks to him about his 23 years in EU diplomacy and his time in London.

On this week’s Unpacking Europe podcast, Armida van Rij sat down with Lord Robertson, former NATO Secretary General and co-lead of the 2024 UK Strategic Defence Review, to discuss priorities for UK defence for the new Burnham government. They took a detailed look at current challenges for UK defence, the UK's future role in NATO as the alliance undergoes a major transformation, and offered advice to the new UK government for navigating big political and societal questions to maintain security in Europe.

On this week’s Unpacking Europe podcast, the CER’s director Charles Grant sat down with Catherine Day, a former Secretary-General of the European Commission, to discuss the impact the departure of the UK on the EU. A decade after the referendum, what have been the positive and negative outcomes of Brexit, from the EU’s point of view? They discussed the possibilities for closer UK-EU relations in the future and the how the darkening geopolitical climate has encouraged closer security co-operation. But should that also mean the EU gives the UK a better trade deal? Should the EU care about the success or otherwise of the British economy?

On this week’s Unpacking Europe podcast the CER’s deputy director Ian Bond sat down with Armida van Rij a senior research fellow at the CER and Michael Martin Richter UK country director at the Hanns Seidel Foundation to discuss the themes of the new paper ‘Rearming Europe for Deterrence’, available here: https://buff.ly/rwfLU1S They took a detailed look the security threats to Europe, the increase in defence budgets and how this spending can be best utilised to increase Europe's capabilities. They discussed what Europe can do to prepare to defend itself, what lessons can be learnt from Ukraine and the need to update perspectives on how modern warfare should be approached and what is required to combat cyber-attacks.

On this week’s Unpacking Europe podcast Zselyke Csaky sat down with Milan Nic a senior research fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) to discuss the latest on EU enlargement. They took a detailed look at new and old ideas recently put forward, including a so-called associate membership for Ukraine, as well as at progress by candidate countries. They discussed what the key challenges facing the EU are and what we can expect to happen in the near future.

On this week’s Unpacking Europe podcast, the CER’s Clara Marina O’Donnell fellow (2025-2026) Thomas Maddock sat down with Zizette Darkazally, Associate Fellow at the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House, and Schams El Ghoneimi, a former Advisor on Middle East and North Africa affairs to Renew Europe in the European Parliament. They took a detailed look at how Europe is responding to two conflicts happening on its doorstep, Israel's war in Lebanon and the continuing humanitarian crisis and Israeli violence in Palestine. They discussed what the key challenges to the EU’s current response are, and what should be prioritised in the upcoming EU Middle East strategy.

On this week's Unpacking Europe podcast, CER's senior research fellow Anton Spisak sat down with Sam Lowe, partner at Flint Global and author of the Most Favoured Nation newsletter, to discuss renewed tensions in transatlantic trade between the EU and the US, why the contentious Turnberry deal is faltering, and whether Brussels and Washington can still find common ground.

On this week’s Unpacking Europe podcast, CER’s senior research fellow Zselyke Csaky sat down with Zsuzsanna Szelényi, director of the Democracy Institute's Leadership Academy, a founding member of Fidesz and a former MP in the Hungarian Parliament to take a detailed look at Hungary's landslide election outcome. They discussed the biggest challenges that Péter Magyar faces, including when it comes to rebuilding democracy at home and resetting Hungary’s relations with the EU and its neighbours.

On this week’s Unpacking Europe podcast, the CER’s Clara Marina O’Donnell fellow (2025-2026) Thomas Maddock sat down with Galip Dalay, Senior Consulting Fellow, Turkey Initiative, Middle East and North Africa Programme, Chatham House and Senem Aydin-Düzgit, Director of the Istanbul Policy Center to take a detailed look at the current EU-Türkiye relationship. They discussed: can the EU and Türkiye move from a transactional relationship to a more co-operative one?; and what are the prospects for change, in light of geopolitical upheaval and uncertainties in the Turkish neighbourhood?

On this week’s Unpacking Europe podcast, the CER’s deputy director Ian Bond sat down with Andy Hunder, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, and Victoria Vdovychenko, the joint leader of the Future of Ukraine program at Cambridge University's Centre for Geopolitics, to take stock of the situation on the fourth anniversary of the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. They discussed how Ukraine is managing to hold out during the brutal winter, what the military and economic situation is, and what Ukraine's future prospects are.